Machine fob splitting katan



y UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEIoE.

JOSEPH SAVYER, OF ROYALSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

i MACHINE FOR SPLITTING RATAN.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 8,664, dated January 2x0, 1852.

Toall 'whom t may concern Be it known that I, JOSEPH SAWYER, ofRoyalston, in the county of Vorcester and State of Massachusetts, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Maohinery for SplittingCane, Ratan, or other Similar Fibrous Materials; and I do hereby declarethat the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of thisspecification, in which- Figure l, is a plan. Fig,` 2, is a longitudinalvertical secton through the line m-, in Fig. l; Fig. 3, is a transversevertical section through the line Jg in Figs. l and 2. Fig. 4, is aperspective view of the cutter head, detached from the machine. Fig. 5,is an elevation` of the first pair of feed rollers.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in each of theseveral figures. i

My invention consists in the employment in combination with the cutterhead and cutters for splitting or cutting 0H the strands, of feedrollers having grooves in their periphery of angular form correspondingwith the angle of` polygon which is formed when all the strips are takenfrom the stick; these feed rollers conduct the stick to the cutters atthe proper angle to cut every strand so as to insure the surface of thestick being equally divided and none wasted and also to insure everystrand being cut perfect.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention `I willproceed to describe its construction and operation.

A, A, is a `frame or bench of wood or metal, having an opening a, a,through the` top and a similar one through the bottom.-

B, C, is the cutter head of wood or castiron, consisting of a base B,.secured to the top of the bench or table, and an arch piece C, at thefront of its upper side, it has a projection b, b, on its upper sidebehind the arch, somewhat similar in form to a segment of a pyramid, theunder part of the arch c, is hollowed out, and the back part has a holec, through it.

D, D, are a pair of chisels or cutters whose points or cutting edges maybe of any suitable form, they are fitted in grooves, one in each face ofthe projection b, b, and are secured by clamping plates d, cl, andscrews e, e; the form of the projection b, b, causes the chisels to bepresented at oblique angles to their work, see Figs. l and 2. There aretwo grooves f, f, see Fig. 4, in the front face of the arch C, in whichfit two bars g, g, carrying each a roller h, `at its longer end; the`upper endsof these bars are bent over the top of the arch, and screwsz', i, lit in them, resting on the top of" the arch, for adjusting therollers at any height. A plate E, is secured to the front of the arch C,eoveringthe grooves f, f, and set screws y', j, are screwed through thisplate for the purpose of securing the bars g, g, when properly adjusted;the axis of each of the rollers la., is., should be parallel with theface of the chisel over which it stands, and the periphery slightlyconcave.

E, is a bent lever having its fulcrum in the pin 7c, at the lower partof the cutter head, it carries at its front end a roller G, with aconcave periphery `whose axis Z, is nearly` under the axis of therollers h, and at its back or lower end it isconnected bya spiral springm, to the front of the bench; this spring has a tendency to raise theroller G.

H, H, H', H', are vert-ical shafts,iitting in bearings in the top andbottom of the bench, in front of the cutter Vhead B, C', those H', H',are capable of moving transversely toward or from those H,wH, by meansof sliding bearings. The shafts H, H, carry the angular grooved pulleysI I, at their upper ends, the form of these pulleys is most clearly seenin Fig. 5, and the anglein the groove will vary according to the numiber of strands to be cut olf; the number of strands cut from a stick,varying according to the relative proportion between the re# quiredwidth of the strand and the circumference of the stick, it beingdesirable in splitting cane and ratan than every strand should have aperfect face, and that all the surface should be cutfrom the stick toprevent waste and that the strands should be of uniform width; the angleof the groove and the position of the cuttersmust bear a proper relationto one another the projection Z), forming part of the same polygon asthe angle of the groove in the pulley. The shafts H', 'I-I', carrypulleys I I, with concave peripheries at the same height as I, I, allbeing of the proper height to feed the material direct to the cutters.All of the above shafts carry driving pulleys J, J,

at their lower ends.

K is a bar suspended near its center from the upper part of the bench bya rod n, its ends bear on the outer sides of the shafts H, H', it isconnected by a pair of links o, p, to a bar L, secured to the oppositeside of the bench. A. weighted rod g, is suspended at the junction ofthe links o, 29, which has a tendency to draw the shaft H' H' towardthose H, H, and thereby cause the pulleys I, I, and I', I', to take aiirm hold of the cane.

I- H", H"', I are another set of shafts arranged in the bench behind thecutter head in a manner similar to those H, H, H', H', in front, theycarry a similar set 'of driving pulleys J, J, and the shafts H"', H"',are drawn toward those H" H", in a manner similar that in which theshafts H', H', are drawn toward H, H; they all carry flanged rollers M,M, M, M, a band N, passing round each pair.

' O, O, is a stick of cane or ratan.

P, is the driving band, which passes between each row of drivingpulleys, giving rotary motion to the whole, being firmly pressed betweenthem so as to obtain the required hold upon the surface by the weightedrods g, g, whose action has been alreadydescribed. The driving band-mayreceive its motion from a pulley placed 1n any convenient position.

The operation of the machine is as follows: The rollers g, g, areadjusted -in the manner already described, so as to bring the lowerparts of their peripheries at a suitable height above the cutting edgesof the chisels,

f according t'o the lrequired thickness of the strips or strands, to becut from the stick,

'fthe rollers acting as gages; the stick is then introduced between thefeed rollers I, I, and I', I', and by their rotary motion is drawntoward thev cutters, its end coming in between the rollers Gr, and b, h,press down the roller Gr, and enables it to pass between them, thespringm, holding it secure; after passing the rollers, it meets theedges of the chisels, and each chisel splits or cuts off a strip orstrand; it pases on through the rollers M, M, and s drawn entrelythrough the cutter head, the strips being cut oft1 its entire length.After one cut is taken it is again put in, in front, the angle formed bythe first cut being placed in the angular groove of the first roller I,and although its thickness decreases with every cut, still the roller Grholds it up to its place and cuts every succeeding strip of the samewidth and thickness.

A greater number of strips may be cut at once, by using a greater numberof chisels, an adjustable roller it, being added for every chisel; butone roller G, would usually be suflicient. The thickness of the stick isimmaterial, as the self adjustable arrangement of the shafts H', H',H"', H"', will always cause the feeed rollers to grasp it. Feed rollerssimilar to I, I, I', I', may be employed behind, as well as in front ofthe cutter head instead of rollers with bands.

Having thus fully described my invention I will noT state what I claimas new and desire to secure by Letters Patentr- I claim the employmentin combination with the cutters for splitting 0H the strands, lof feedrollers or their equivalents I, I, hav- Ianother side or other sides,substantially as and for the purposes herein described.

JOSEPH SAWYER. Witnesses:

BARNET BULLocK, GEORGE S. COLBURN.

